Grand Challenges Special Initiatives (closed)
Grants of up to £10,000 for innovative, cross-disciplinary activities that generate societal impact under the themes of the UN SDGs, Place & Displacement, Food Security, and the Climate Crisis.
1 August 2022
Purpose of the scheme
Annually, UCL's Grand Challenges programme identifies major cross-cutting themes for strategic support resonating with the priorities of all six individual GC strands.
In 2022-23 the special initiatives will address the themes of:
- Place & Displacement
- Food Security
- Climate Crisis
- UN SDGs: Pathways to Achievement.
Applicants can apply for a maximum of £10,000 to support projects/initiatives that are cross-boundary and generate societal impact. All funding must be spent and invoiced by 31 July 2023.
More information about each of the thematic calls and eligibility guidelines is available below:
N.B. If the links in the pdf documents don't work, please try refreshing the page.
UN SDGs: Pathways to Achievement
Place & Displacement
Food Security
Climate Crisis
2022-23 Call Outline
Funding cannot be used for staff or teaching buy-out, however awards can be utilised for funding RA salary costs. Awards can be used to support cross-disciplinary and cross-boundary (UCL staff linking with non-academic, civil society partners) projects and activities that generate societal impacts, this may include (but is not limited to):
- Research or policy workshops
- Symposia or conferences
- Reports
- Articles or comment pieces in peer publications or media channels
- Preparatory or exploratory research towards larger grant applications
- Public and community engagement activities
- Videos and reports focused on policy
- Research-led performance/public art-based outputs, including documentary films
Applicants can be a combination of:
- Members of UCL staff
- UCL students
- External academic partners
- Non-academic partners
Please Note:
- Applications must nominate a first applicant, who will act as the point of contact for communications and financial/budget transactions. This must be a member of UCL staff.
- If the second applicant is also from UCL, they must be based in a faculty or unit that is different from the first applicant.
- Applications should be made using the online system. If you have any accessibilty requirements and require an alternative process, please contact the Grand Challenges team.
If you have questions regarding the initiatives or submission guidelines please contact Dr James Paskins.